SEVEN potentially deadly coaches full of holidaymakers were immediately banned from the road after safety checks by police and Government inspectors.

Officers discovered problems including steering defects, faulty brakes and loose seats on tests on the M6 at Sand-bach Services.

Another five coaches were issued with orders to have mechanical defects corrected as soon as they returned to base.

Two coach drivers were also arrested, one for driving while disqualified, while the other was wanted on warrant for driving offences.

Checks were carried out by Cheshire Police and the Vehicle Operators Service Agency as part of Operation Tour-ist, a campaign targeting coaches involved in the holiday industry.

Officers inspected 138 coaches on the M6 services area at Sandbach over the last three weekends.

They found five coaches with defective tachographs and dealt with a total of 45 offences connected with breaches of drivers hours regulations.

Sgt Martin Preston, of Cheshire Police Motorway Unit, said: 'Imagine the mayhem that could be caused by a coach with loose seats, defective brakes and steering and no brake lights. The consequences on one of the busiest arterial routes in the country could be horrific.

'This is why the inspectors from the Vehicle Operators Service Agency believed it was the most successful operation of its kind so far.

'We are delighted to have taken some of these vehicles off the road, although, obviously, we're not happy with the fact that they had serious defects.

Police said the coaches stopped and checked were from all over the country.

Operation Tourist is a yearly initiative and is complemented with follow-up checks throughout the year.

Mr Preston added: This is a problem that's not going to go away and neither will we. People place good faith in coaches and their drivers that they will be transported safely, so any clampdown like this must be welcomed.'

In July alone, two coach crashes on the region's roads accounted for eight lives.

On July 10 on the M56, a group of holidaymakers died when their minibus crashed into the central reservation and four days later just outside Chester on the A483 one person was killed and 40 injured when two HGV lorries collided with a coach.

Investigations into both accidents are ongoing.